1993. There was this skater chick called Samantha. At least I kind of assumed she was a skater. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever saw her with a skateboard. But she typified skate ethos. Flannies, jeans, NOFX T-shirt, and a sneer were her standard wardrobe. Through a series of curious co-incidences, she ended up moving into the house I was sharing with my friends in Belconnen. It was a minimalist setup, because between the three of us, I think we owned exactly one Mitsubishi Express’ worth of furniture and clothes. Our stereo consisted of a massive guitar amp plugged into a portable discman, with a wonky power cable. Scattered carefully around this setup among the dust bunnies was a careless array of CD covers, plastic cigarette wrappers. And it was here, on a cold Canberra morning, that I first met MCA and the Beastie Boys for real. Sam’s copy of Check Your Head didn’t stand out among the CD covers with its muted black and white photo of the three boys sitting on the sidewalk. I remembered back to everything I knew about the Beastie Boys, which consisted of ‘Fight for Your Right to Party’ and that weird parody band from the 80′s, Morris Minor and the Majors, who had a moment in the sun with a crappy piss-take song about bedtime.

“Ha!” I thought to myself, “this should be good for a laugh…”

I loaded the CD up, tossing the Urge Overkill single out of the player onto the floor, shiny side up. I wiggled the power cable and hit the play button, turning the amp up to 2…

“This next one… Is the first song… on our new Album”

Heh. Very Meta.

And then, in the next 30 seconds of Jimmy James, Adam Yauch’s hip-hop love letter to Jimi Hendrix, my desire to contemptuously dismiss the Beastie Boys as some kind of cheezy frat boy party kids was gone, killed dead for ever.

And I had found an incredible new music, one that would guide me through my youth, through some wild parties and hysterical moments, but also through the quiet times, sedate social settings, long lopey summer sessions sitting around with friends. The music of Check Your Head, and later of Ill Communication grounded me throughout those difficult turbulent times, and flowed around me, melodic, positive and structured, from the early morning starts in retail (“Good Morning – Time to Get up and go to WORK!”) right through to the sophisticated stilted and awkward ‘dinner’ parties we would host after the night shift. “What’s the secret Peter? – Naturally, I’d say it was the wine.” (It was probably the hash)

And sometimes, I would think about the people behind the voices were being piped into my headphones, and wonder how they were doing. I felt that I knew them. I’d been listening to their thoughts, their music, their witty wordplay. I’d been laughing along with them, sharing the in-jokes, and taking their advice. And I wanted them to be well, and I hoped they were enjoying themselves, and feeling as good as they were making me feel, driving home from work singing along to Sabotage at the top of my lungs.. I would hear about MCA’s work with the Milarepa Fund, and the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, and I would think to myself – “That’s my boy!” I was proud of him, because his music had profoundly connected with me, and I just wasn’t emotionally capable of interpreting that in a broadcast sense. On a subconscious level, I was intimately involved with this band, these people who I loved. And it was my subconscious that was grieving this morning in the closet, that is still damaged and sad at the notion that a  relationship that it has nourished and delighted in is now over, irrevocably gone, without any goodbye, or any closure.

This is what it is to be a fan. It’s called gratitude. And that’s right.

A cold chill of fear cut through me
I felt my heart contract
To my mind I brought the image of light
And I expanded out of it
My fear was just a shadow
And then a voice spoke in my head
And she said dark is not the opposite of light
It’s the absence of light
And I thought to myself
She knows what she’s talking about
And for a moment I know
What it was all about.

- Namaste, Beastie Boys, 1992

The Wanee festival, now in its eighth year, is an annual get together of preeminent jam, blues and rock bands held in Live Oak, Florida, hosted by the Allman Brothers just off the banks of the historic Suwanee River. Before I try and describe some of the amazing music, wonderful times and lasting memories that were created at this once in a lifetime convergence of the two preeminent classic rock/jam band founding institutions, I first wanted to give you a little overview of the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park where land, water and music meld together to fill the air and feed the soul. Amazing music certainly defines a festival but something that seems to be overlooked many times when I read about festivals are the intangibles of a given venue. Sure, you need a big field, a stage, good sound system, lights, concessions, bathrooms, etc. to handle the 20,000 plus crowds that showed up at this psychedelic party but equally as important are the little things that help create a great time for everyone. The Suwannee Park is a naturally beautiful place with unspoiled woods adorned with trippy Spanish moss dripping down from the countless Oak andCypress trees that dot the 500 plus acres. The tannin-rich colored Suwannee River is a wonderful diversion as is the lake, boat house and countless other outdoor activities to keep a wandering soul occupied.

To borrow a familiar Hunter/Weir lyric you can say the Suwannee Music Park has got everything you need, a breeze in the pines in the summer night, moonlight, crazy in the sunlight, yes indeed. The park also boasts a café and store that sells all the camping supplies you might need and at very reasonable prices; an example was 20 lb. bags of ice for $4.00 delivered to your site if you want – that is service! I imagine they could have jacked up the prices since they are the only game in town but they didn’t and that just reemphasizes how cool this place really is.

The other crucial ingredient for a good time in my cookbook is a chilled environment sprinkled with nice people and Wanee cooked up the perfect combination. The people working the event, the vendors and those in attendance were the friendliest, most helpful, caring folks I have encountered in a long, long time. During our entire time we did not see a single nefarious act. No mean or rude people, no sketchy characters, no bad vibes and thankfully not even a single peep from a nasty N2O tank. I’d also like to give a big thank you to Juice of Juice and the Panty Droppers (local FL band- check them out if you can) for picking us up in his golf cart while we were way out in the primitive camping area and then delivering us to the venue right after Saturdays downpour just in time for the next musical act, hats off to southern hospitality!

This year’s Wanee festival was somewhat overshadowed by the death of Levon Helm, drummer and singer of The Band who died Thursday after a battle with cancer. Many of the musicians in attendance were good friends with Levon and had played with him at one time or another over the years. This friendship, admiration and musical bond was evident in the outpouring of affection channeled through the music throughout this event. Some of the many artists who played a tribute to Levon included Hot Tuna, Bruce Hornsby, The Allman Brothers w/Bob Weir, The North Mississippi Allstars and Govt. Mule whose “The Shape I’m In” was cut short Saturday when the sky began to cry for Levon and a torrential downpour ensued.

Unfortunately since Wanee is 800 miles from my home and I have a pretty hectic work/family schedule I was only able to make it down by early Friday afternoon so forgive me as I can’t accurately cover some of the bands who started this party earlier in the week. I also want to apologize for not meeting everyone I had planned to but with the amount of music I wanted to see, the distance between places and the two other people I had to coordinate schedules with I did the best I could do. I did hear that I missed a great set with Duane Trucks’ new band, Flannel Church. They are a new blues/funk band featuring a bunch of musicians from various Col. Bruce Hampton projects. Some other acts that I really wished I could have seen were Ray Manzarek, Hot Tuna and Bruce Hornsby, just to name a few.

On Friday we first caught Buddy Guy, who was great, then The Mickey Hart Band followed by the Tedeschi Trucks Band - all leading up to the main courses of Furthur and the Allman Brothers Band. My highlights for Friday include Furthur’s Alligator>Ripple, Scarlet->Fire and their encore of Touch of Gray that had a rainbow full of sound and all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn. Normally after three hours plus Furthur show I would call it a night but that is the beauty of a festival; the music never stops! So, after a longer than expected break (due to Gregg’s seeming declining health) following Furthur, the headlining Allman Brothers Band finally took the Peach Stage late Friday night. I had seen ABB less than a month ago at the Beacon and was quite shocked by Gregg’s health and lack of mobility. From what I have read, it seems like Gregg had three hernias repaired in the nine days leading up to Wanee and has been taking medicine to help with the pain. That combination certainly explains things and I’m sure many lesser artists wouldn’t have even considered performing in this condition, but we all know Gregg is a warrior. So I hope that with the help of God and true friends he’ll still have two strong legs to stand on because we know he is bound to keep on riding and playing beautiful music for his loyal fans. The Allman Brothers set included a three-song tribute to Levon Helm starting with “It Makes No Difference” then Blind Willie McTell followed with The Weight along with Susan Tedeschi and Bob Weir, to name a few of the many people cluttered on stage. After the Allman’s set ended we headed over to catch the end of Particle’s set and enjoyed the sounds and vibe coming from the woods around the Mushroom stage and the festival people who inhabited this smurf village area.

We started Saturday off with a walk along the river and a dip in the Suwannee River to clean off the festival funk from Friday night. As I walked along the sandy trails near the river I could almost hear a sweet lullaby singing to me… don’t fly, mister blue bird, I’m just walking down the road, early morning sunshine tell me all I need to know. Being out and about in the campground visiting with people and seeing all the campsites with their varying degree of decorations was what I envision Halloween might be like in Haight-Ashbury. We also stumbled upon the Traveling Stage cruising down the road with Planet of the Abts on back of this retro fitted truck/stage delivering music right to your campsite, nice way to get the groove out to the people who were still crawling out of their sleeping bags from a long, long night.

We knew we were in for another long day of music Saturday so we didn’t start inside the festival grounds until Trigger Hippy hit the stage early in the afternoon. This fairly new American Rock and Roll super group consists of Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, singer/songwriter Will Kimbrough, singer Joan Osborne, singer/songwriter Jackie Greene and bassist Nick Govrik. They put on a very inspired show and I would encourage you to check them out if they come to a venue near you. After Trigger Hippy we wandered over to the Mushroom stage where a whole other group of hippies had gathered and watched Leftover Salmon laying down some of their rootsy, bluegrass, cajun, funk and improvisational licks. We then bounced back over to the Peach stage for Gov’t. Mule as Warren was asking the crowd “How you doing Wanee?” to which the crowd answered in unison with some whooping and hollering – but even those good vibes couldn’t keep away the storm that was fast approaching. *Note to self – if you pack rain gear bring it to the venue and don’t leave it in your tent! So during the Mules rendition of “The Shape I’m In” paying tribute to Levon, we had to run for cover and ride out the storm in the car while trying to dry off. After that Box of Rain cleared we made it back (with help from Juice) in time for Furthur to start “Playing in the Band.” I have seen Furthur many times as well as all the other bands that Phil and Bobby have been in over the years since The Grateful Dead and I must say I enjoy the two-set format much better than this one-set format. I definitely have to think that Lesh and Weir enjoy the break as well.

Furthur’s Saturday show included a nice PITB->China Cat Sunflower and a sweet Birdsong into Sugar Magnolia PITB>Help on the way>Slip>Franklins Tower that brought the swirling dancing crowd to a fever pitch. I was somewhat surprised that they broke out U.S. Blues for an encore considering this was Saturday night but maybe it just wasn’t late enough for one more Saturday night. Once Furthur ended we started to squeeze up as close as we could get to the stage, dodging people’s chairs, tarps and taping towers that they had put down hours in advance to secure a prime spot. Maybe it’s just me but I think if you put something down to hold your place then leave for several hours you really shouldn’t expect it to be available for you when you return. The Allman Brothers seemed to want to make some amends for the previous night’s late start and somewhat uncomfortable feel onstage and they proceeded to tear the Spanish moss off the trees with a blistering Jessica, Come and Go Blues then Walk on Gilded Splinters. A very subdued All Along the Watchtower slowed things down a bit then another beautiful cover, Into the Mystic was certainly a highlight. The first encore of the night was a chilling version of Needle and the Damage Done with just Gregg, Derek and Warren on stage; this hushed the crowd noise to the quietest level imaginable. Gregg sat on a stool and sang this song with the conviction that only one who has lived it and been there could pull off (see short, shaky, poor video clip here- sorry) Many people I talked to thought this might be the last time we would ever see Gregg perform, it was just a gut-wrenching give it your all performance that almost seemed to be a fitting farewell to a man who has fought the battles he has fought. Hopefully, everyone is wrong. The final ABB song and encore was Southbound with several extra artists helping out including Roosevelt Collier on pedal steel; Jackie Green on guitar; Danny Louis on keys; Jimmy Hall on harp and James van de Bogert on percussion.

After Southbound ended and Little Martha began coming over the PA system we slowly started to wade out away from the stage through the carnage of a four-day festival that will be remembered for quite some time. The closing act of Wanee this year in the late night slot was the North Mississippi Allstars, back in the woods on the mushroom stage. This place was chocked full of characters in full-blown festie attire grooving to some amazing jams. Roosevelt Collier from the Lee Boys came over and sat in with NMA the whole set and they were just tearing it up like you haven’t seen before, certainly one of the my new favorite bands! They brought out the lasers, the lights, muppets, you name it and it was going on. Before the final song Luther Dickinson came out and dedicated it to former Allman Brothers Band member Dickey Betts, late members Duane Allman and Berry Oakley and to Levon Helm. This jam of all jams seemed to include elements of Blue Sky and Jessica and I sure hope I can find a copy of it to download soon.

This marked the end of another Wanee Music Festival and it left me, and I’m sure everyone else, feeling lucky to be in attendance with memories that will last a lifetime. Check out the photo album below; we hope it will add some visibility and visuals to the otherwise invisible and wonderful music we heard at Wanee.

Wanee Music Festival 2012 Photos

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

I don’t want it to be over. I want to stay and play with the funny crazy people, and tease the guy with the giant indian headdress. I want to eat strange fruits from paper bags from smiling organic farmers with dreadlocks. I want to make jokes about the tall guy who always stands in front of you with the short girl standing behind me, to smile knowingly at the Mums and Dads carrying sleeping children, blissfully unaware of the screaming crowd at the other end of the tent. I want to dance like an idiot, link arms and high five my fellow crowd-members,  to shake off the corporate silliness that governs my ‘real’ life , accept random passed doobies from strangers, and revel in the joyful music washing over me, stunned, amazed and overwhelmingly alive in a moment. I want to watch the young girls gossip and fawn over each other, to wink and smile at people I don’t know, to make fun of the drunks staggering over the tent ropes, to shout and play music, and stay up late, and drink and laugh with my friends and family…

Okay, with that out of my system, time to come ever so reluctantly down to reality…

Young Sounds of Byron

Potato, Potato

The kids of Byron Bay Steiner Schools (Cape Byron and Shearwater) put on a fantastic show, and the showcase of talent was amazing – there are some really talented and skilled musicians being grown in the hinterlands of Byron Shire. Keep your eye out for a band called Potato, Potato – a rocking bunch of young kids with amazing harmonies, and surprisingly sophisticated songwriting skills. As a parent of four Shearwater kids, I can attest to the fact that music is a massively important part of the educational process, and there is something so inspiring and rewarding about seeing the kids play with such commitment and passion.

Mason Rack Band

In the Adjacent APRA Tent, a bass storm erupted, thanks to the Mason Rack Band. I didn’t get a chance to step in, but from all reports, it was an incredible show. My Brother returned after the show, panting and unable to speak. When he did, his words came to him slowly: “That was… the… best… thing… ever!”
Apparently the band closed their high intensity blues laden slide guitar driven swamp rock set by getting naked, save for a few strategically placed hats.

Round Mountain Girls

Round Mountain Girls

Not knowing what to expect, we stayed at the APRA tent for the Round Mountain Girls, a high energy folk outfit, who played with amazing musicality and a wry sense of humour. “So, I guess you’ve all seen John Fogerty before…” the singer remarked dryly to a partially empty tent. No matter – once the band started, the audience appeared. Highlights for me were a rollicking Australian bushdance jig, that had the whole audience linking arms and dancing gleefully faster and faster – that band can really play fast, fiddles and banjos frenetically whirring, until we all nearly died. Then just when we couldn’t possibly take it anymore, they slowed down into a delightful rendition of everyone’s favourite one-hit-wonder, Johann Pachabel’s Canon in D, which segued beautifully into The Police’s So Lonely, with spectacular harmonies. A truly amazing band to watch, but even more fun to dance to.

John Fogerty

John Fogerty was, as he said to a packed Mojo tent “Gone for a long time” – he refused to play any of these songs from Creedence Clearwater Revival due to what he describes as “Some Really Bad Stuff that went Down”. “But -” He went on – ” I’m Over that now!” having survived his history of feuds with band members, and lawyer crap, it was great to hear this guy in such amazing voice, and his guitar licks sounded fantastic too. He played through the entire 1969 ‘Green River’ album, introducing each song, and as hundreds of nostalgic Baby Boomers joined in the chorus of “Bad Moon Rising”, Their kids (and grandkids) all sang along.

Tijuana Cartel

Tijuana Cartel

What a curious thing is Tijuana Cartel. Flamenco Guitar, Drum and Bass grooves, Tijuana style trumpet lines along with afro-cuban percussion and rap vocals. The whole thing seems like a crazy experiment, but the result is beautiful. From lilting dreamscape sounds, with resonant brass and amazing tones through to pulsing dance breaks that had the crowd hollering and jumping, these Gold Coast natives put on the most hypnotic and engaging set that transfixed us all.

Dubmarine

Sing it Kazman!

Having seen these guys play on Sunday, I couldn’t resist going back for another round of dancehall reggae beats. On the larger Jambalya stage, the band was able to spread out more, and we could see everyone in the 10 piece ensemble – allowing D-Kazman and Kat Williams plenty of space to dance, groove and sing the crowd up into a frenzy. As the crowd carried Kazman off as the lights came down, I don’t think anyone could possibly have danced any harder, or had any more fun. Go and see them, you will not be disappointed.

Zappa plays Zappa

Zappa on Zappa

Frank Zappa’ discography totals a massive 91 albums, so when looking back over the catalog, there are a few choices to be made. Regardless, no matter what song Dweezil announced, there was always at least one diehard Zappa fan in the crowd who would hoot or whistle their appreciation. The band sounded fantastic, and delivered the full Zappa experience, including amazing guitar solos from Dweezil. By this stage of the night we were all pretty exhausted, so it was more a case of stand and appreciate the glitzy, slightly deranged fusion of music as it washed over us in the Mojo tent.

Maceo Parker

Making it Funky

I decided to close out the festival with the funkiest man at the festival, Mr Maceo Parker. Maceo is the saxophone player from Parliament-Funkadelic, and from James Brown’s band in the 1960s. He puts on a huge show full of deep funk grooves, that rippled out through the Crossroads tent to close the festival. “I don’t know why they invited us to play at a blues festival… ” He said to the crowd, with a grin – “Seems like the blues is all about making you feel bad. Here, gimme a b flat” – He waved to the guitarist, who obliged. “All’yer” – Maceo waved at the band, and they launched into a sad, cheesy, and note perfect 12 bar blues. Maceo sprinkled some cheezy blues lyrics over the top, before laughing, and cutting them all off.  ”That’s not what we do. This is what we do-” The band launched into a massive over the top horn laden jam, Make it Funky, and the weary revelers couldn’t help but be swept up in the groove, as Maceo and his band made it very, very funky.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

The beautiful summer-like weather continued on Day 4 of Bluesfest, Easter Sunday. Chocolate was consumed, time for a family breakfast and a leisurely chat on the back deck before we were back on the highway bound for Tyagrah. A long day, plenty of sunscreen thanks to the cancer council, and one or two cleansing ales in the sunshine.

Yann Tiersen

Yann Tiersen lights up the Crossroads Stage

Yann Tiersen is a French musician, best known for the music soundtrack to Amelie. He brought with him his band consisting of three synthesiser/sequencer workstations, bass, drums and guitar. It’s always weird to see the knob tweaking and button pushing of the electronic devices that generate this music – It kind of looked like three guys in cubicles at work. But the output of all their efforts was powerful, melodic layered shimmering music, with hard crunchy edges, thanks to the live drums. Not being familiar with the set list, it was a pleasure to just close your eyes and let the sounds swirl around the crossroads tent. Judging by the folks lying around the tent doing the same, it was an easy on ramp to get back into festival mode.

Dubmarine

Dubmarine are a 10 piece reggae dancehall dub band from Brisbane. Fronted by Captain D-Kazman (wearing nothing but the Aboriginal Flag and body paint), and Commander Kat Walker (in a sparkling tassled minidress) the band delivered a high intensity show filled with fat thumping dub grooves, complete with horns, samples and killer grooves. The interplay and vocal skills of the two singers was frenetic and exciting, culminating in a Street Fighter style battle of Ha-Do-Ken sonic fireballs being thrown across the APRA tent. This band puts on one hell of a big show, laden with incredible singing, showmanship, and just everyone in the band clearly having a hell of a good time.

The songs were strong in their message, with positive and uplifting wicked dancehall raps on the topic of indigenous rights, and anthemic chants that had the crowd jumping. It’s impossible not to be sucked into the Dubmarine – when 10 people are onstage jumping, playing and clearly loving what they are doing the contagion spreads like wildfire.

Missed:Mama Kin, Joanne Shaw Taylor

Angelique Kidjo

Angelique Kidjo brings the crowd to the show

Angelique Kidjo is a native of Senegal, but these days is much more of an Earthling, spending her time travelling tirelessly across the globe bringing her message of harmony, equality and freedom through the medium of African music, dance and singing. And what an incredible show it is. As she welcomed us all with a spirited high energy tune filled with congas and frenetic, unpredictable rhythms, she said “There will be singing and dancing. Are you okay with that?” The crowd roared that yes, they were. I still hadn’t caught my breath, and wasn’t so sure. But there was singing. And dancing. And lots of clapping and chanting. Angelique trained us all in a blessing chant and set the crowd chanting “Shay Mama Shay Mama Africa”, before she disappeared offstage, all the while singing with her incredible deep and rich voice, only to reappear in the middle of the crowd, walking through a swathe of delighted chanting fans, humbled and amazed by this diminutive in stature, but enormous in talent woman.

When she returned to the stage, she said that she had been to see us, and now she wanted us to come and see her… And so a collection of lucky fans joined her onstage to dance their asses off. The conga player brought a drum to the front of the stage, and one by one, random fans were offered the chance to dance off against the drummer, in a one on one battle to the pounding afro beat, while the crowd roared. An amazing, uplifting, spectacular show.

Missed: Betye Lavette, Eagle and The Worm, Richard Clapton

The Audreys

The Audreys are an alt-country band from Adelaide, fronted by Taasha Coates – a strikingly beautiful raven haired songstress who sings with a sweet and dark captivating voice. Ably assisted by bandmate Tristan Goodall, and touring band members, they sang us through another spectacular Byron sunset. The crowd took the opportunity to relax and enjoy their set, which featured tracks from the new album, Sometimes the Stars.

Missed: Maceo Parker, Candi Staton, Slightly Stoopid

Seasick Steve

For some reason, the sound of opening a beer can reminds me of Seasick Steve. Foamy, crunchy and resonant, with the promise of satisfaction. And that was what this set delivered. With his unique blend of classic blues and mountain music, Steve took us on a wild and wily ride through tracks from his new album, You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks, and some older favorites. Joined onstage by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, and later by the members of Wolfmother, I would wager to say that this old dog has in fact, learned a whole bunch of new tricks. And they are pretty awesome, too. A charismatic, engaging and friendly character, Steve’s banter between songs had the crowd laughing and cheering. “This place – Byron Bay – This is the best place in the world.” Steve said to thunderous applause. “And I would marry any woman who would let me stay here. Except that I’m already married. Oh well.”

Missed: Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges, Ray Beadle

Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea on Wikipedia - my camera phone went flat

Newfoundland, Canada, according to Great Big Sea vocalist Alan Doyle, is “a tropical island” where “the girls walk about on the beaches in bikinis!” Hmm. Sounds a lot like Byron Bay… The APRA tent was packed with people keen to hear this hugely popular Canadian folk band who have sold out their last two shows in Sydney and Melbourne. As an honorary Newfoundlander (it’s complicated, there’s a ritual that involves kissing a fish and lots and lots of rum) I was stoked to be able to join in. As far as I could tell, every Canadian in a 1000 mile radius had made the pilgrimage to Byron to see their favourite band play their third ever show in Australia, and I felt like the only guy in the crowd who didn’t know the words. But that didn’t stop me – I jigged and danced and ducked and wove under the Newfoundland flag that was being waved by my Canadian brothers as the four piece band put on a spectacular show full of stomping folk rock with amazing fiddle playing, bones, bouzouki, mandolin and concertina. The set also included two a capella sea shanties, that were gloriously belted out by the crowd. . Perhaps in an effort to include those who weren’t in the know, the boys played us through a fly by sing along of Canadian music history, including the Barenaked Ladies “If I had a million dollars”, and culminating with a boorish, hilarious crowd led rendition of Bryan Adams’ Summer of 69. At the beginning of the set, Doyle switched it up a bit towards the end of one song, with a wink and a nod – effortlessly transitioning into the Black Eyed Peas – “I got a feeling… That tonight’s gonna be a good night”. He was right. What a great show, and what charming great folk.
It made me love Newfoundland even more.
Missed: Backsliders, Weddings Parties Anything, Blue King Brown

The Pogues

What can I say, this was easily the most hotly anticipated show at the festival – the first time The Pogues have played in Australia for 24 years. And they were downright amazing. As Shane McGowan blurted out at the crowd “It’s nice to be back. It’s uh – been a while.” The oft-troubled frontman started out a little shaky, through the opening song _Streams of Whiskey_, but as the show progressed, his voice sounded grand, and his band mates delivered beautiful melodic celtic punk music in a way that only The Pogues can. The crowd was enraptured, dancing linking arms, strangers stopping each other in the tent for impromptu silly riverdance danceoffs, and the atmosphere around the crossroads tent was gregarious and full of love. They waved their arms and sung along to a poignant cover of Eric Bogle’s And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, joining in for the last verse of one of Australia’s most loved national songs. The band played an encore, and after much hooting and hollering, returned for another, as it was clear that this mob of bluesfest revellers was not done yet. The final encore included percussion from Spider Stacey smashing a tin tray against his head, which was tossed into the crowd to the last note of the evening, from accordion player James Fearnley, who collapsed triumphantly onto the stage. There was a lot of hype around this show. These guys absolutely deserved it all, and we all stumbled off into the full moon, delighted, exhausted and supremely high.
Missed: John Butler Trio, Jonny Lang, Tribali, Blackbirds

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Day 3 and still the beautiful weather continues! A little overindulgence and a bit of laziness led to a late start, so a lot of the awesome stuff from earlier in the day I missed out on – judging from the tweet stream, Wolfmother joining Seasick Steve and John Paul Jones onstage blew the Mojo tent away, and some great sets from Dawes and Keb Mo had people pretty stoked for a Saturday Afternoon.

Ziggy Marley

Gettin' Ziggy With it

Ziggy returned to the Mojo stage for his last set of the festival. His band were incredible, so tight and together as they stepped through these enormous fat reggae tunes to the delight of the crowd. Love is My Religion, and Tomorrow People were highlights, as was watching the wide range of Byron hippies around me grooving. The closer I get to being an old person, the more I think to myself that old people are actually pretty good dancers…  Ziggy’s music is full of love and kindness, and defiance, and as he closed his set by singing a couple of his Dad’s tunes – Get Up, Stand Up, and Jammin’, the crowd was also full of love and kindness.

Ollie Brown

Ollie Brown at the Cavanbah Stage

As the crowd spilled out of the Mojo Tent, I veered left to get to the tiniest stage  - the Cavanbah at the North Gate. This little tent has a real bar in it that serves proper drinks, and chairs for people to sit down in, so it was all very sophisticated. The entertainment was an Australian singer/songwriter Ollie Brown, who was engaging, and candid and played some beautiful songs and told the crowd some great stories throughout his set. A cover of Springsteen’s I’m on Fire had the crowd cooing along on the falsetto harmonies, which is no small feat for a festival crowd.  On the tail of his adventures in the US, busking and travelling and writing songs, Brown has just won a contest called “Australia’s Best Busker” – Which, he told us with tongue firmly in cheek, makes him “Australia’s Best Busker” – but more importantly it means he will be able to record his debut album for free. Keep an eye on this guy over at http://olliebrown.com

Missed:Angelique Kidjo, Steve Earle, Harry Manx, Brian Setzer

Joanne Shaw Taylor

Joanne Shaw Taylor

Wow. Some of the things you see at Bluesfest, really. I knew nothing about Joanne Shaw Taylor, and if you also have never heard of her, here’s what you need to know. She plays guitar like Joe Satriani, and sings like Adele. Seriously. In fact, she may be better. Her virtuoso blues licks alone would have blown the walls of the Jambalya tent (fortunately, it doesn’t have any).   Ably assisted by her drummer and bass player, her cover of Hendrix’s Manic Depression left the crowd stunned, slackjawed and amazed. She is playing again on the Crossroads stage Monday, so if you get a chance – go.

Missed: Donovan, Tribali

Claude Hay

As I was saying earlier, The Cavanbah tent is quite the sophisticated end of the festival scene – you might even say that it’s the School Library of Bluesfest, with it’s chairs and fancy cocktails. Well, something happened to the school library when Claude Hay came to town. An unassuming, friendly solo instrumentalist, he sat down behind his custom drum kit and proceeded to play us his unique blend of home-cooked stomping blues, using loops, slide guitar and all kinds of other magic. Claude makes all his own instruments, and as he changed them over he’d tell us the stories behind them: “This one is made from a baking tray I found at K-Mart for seven bucks, and some bits of wood left over from my back deck…” The crowd laughed and clapped along, charmed and intrigued. Sipping Martinis. That was when Claude decided to play us his favorite classic rock tune – Queen’s We Will Rock You like you’ve never heard it before. Double time, with stomp box, dirty blues licks, and the most compelling beat – the song was nearly unrecognizable.

And somebody got out of their chair to dance, unable to contain themselves. Within two verses, the School Library had done that ‘sexy librarian’ thing, and let her hair down. Chairs were cast aside, as people leapt to their feet to dance, turning the room into a crowd of foot stomping and  thigh-slapping. It was joyous to watch, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. By the end of his set, after he had played past time,  the crowd hollered for more ,and he obliged with a dirty rendition of The Beatles ‘Come Together’ , with everyone singing along. Amazed.

Claude Hay starts a hoedown in the library

With the cheers from the crowd still  ringing in our ears, we took a quick tour past the two main tents on the way out – John Fogerty seemed in fine form, and the crowd was loving his performance – Oobie Doobie and Looking out my Back Door sounded great from the back of the tent. Lucinda Williams also sounded magical down at the Crossroads tent – there were plenty of people sat on chairs (behind the mixing desk) enjoying her soulful tunes.